


Pet Policy

by BooklandReeve



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-05
Packaged: 2018-02-24 04:57:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2568995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooklandReeve/pseuds/BooklandReeve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I set out to write some fluffy Laferry being domestic and instead my brain piped up with, "That time LaFontaine brought home a baby dragon and Perry called it a puppy," and I don't even know about my life I'm supposed to be working on my annotated bibliography.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pet Policy

* * *

 

When Perry suggested that they name it Rosalind, after Rosalind Franklin, LaFontaine was so pleased about the fact that this meant that a) Perry had actually been listening to one of their rants about gender inequality in historical science, and b) Perry wasn’t going to make them get rid of it, that she didn’t bother bringing up the fact that sexual organs in reptiles tended to be retracted or inverted so it wasn’t really for certain if “Rosalind” was female.

They spent a couple of seconds thinking that actually, that might be a really good conversation to have about how ridiculous it was to gender things that actually had no real concept of gender, and even if it was a male they should still call it Rosalind, because Rosalind Franklin was a badass that didn’t get nearly enough things named for her. But pets of all kinds were technically against policy in the dorms and if _Perry_ , of all people, wasn’t going to say anything then LaFontaine wasn’t going to bring it up.

They certainly weren’t going to put it back outside, not when the Zetas were still stomping around in their stupid ‘armor’ - even from a distance they had obviously just spray painted their lacrosse gear silver, honestly it was probably even more flammable that way - desperate to save a princess.

“ _Because all hotties want to be princesses, right?_ ” LaFontaine mocked softly to Rosalind, scratching tentatively at an eye ridge because the scales there looked a little itchy. A little trill rose up from a silvery-blue throat, and slowly a secondary set of eyelids slid closed, the primary set drooping. LaFontaine filed away that observation, wondering if it had to do with smoke protection since the toes weren’t webbed or anything else that would suggest an aquatic species, and shifted carefully so that Rosalind could drape more comfortably across their lap.

Despite the slight cramping in their calf, which had to stay flexed to hold the position, it had been something of a long night, and LaFontaine was already beginning to drift off to sleep when the door rattled and Perry’s voice shoved in through the crack, followed by a mountain of plastic shopping bags.

“I’m back!” Perry announced quite unnecessarily, dumping most of her shopping on the floor but miraculously maintaining her grip on the paper bag from Pantao's. “Sorry it took so long. I brought egg fried rice.”

LaFontaine experimentally shifted and managed to maneuver Rosalind into the crook of their elbow, like an exceptionally floppy football, and sat up to take the proffered food. “Thanks. I missed dining hall hours.”

“I know.” Perry shot them a fond look, the corners of her eyes crinkling, and Lafontaine grinned while they flipped the bag open with one hand because _of course_ Perry had known. Perry, who sometimes brought fluffernutter sandwiches and coffee to the lab in time for LaFontaine to eat and make it to their eight o’clock class, even though she didn’t have a class until eleven. _Perry_.

It was kind of impossible to eat fried rice from a cardboard takeout container one-handed - with their nondominant hand, no less - but Lafontaine very nearly had their chopsticks sorted out when Perry _tsk_ ed quietly. “For goodness’ sake. Give me two minutes and then you can put her down over here.”

LaFontaine was going to protest the idea of _ever_ putting a sleeping baby animal down when they looked up from the rice to what Perry was doing, and laughed out loud. “I didn’t even know Petsmart was open this late.”

Perry pursed her lips and continued arranging tiny pillows around the miniature shearling-covered couch. “Everything around here is twenty-four hours. It’s so nice of them to acknowledge those who work alternative shifts and might need to shop at odd hours.” She nodded sharply, her curls shivering. LaFontaine rolled their eyes at how clearly Perry had been thinking about why stores around Silas might cater to a nocturnal clientele the entire bus ride back to campus. “Here, give me -” She hesitated, her fingers just shy of close enough to be a viable option.

LaFontaine stabbed their chopsticks down into the rice and carefully ooched off the bed to ease Rosalind down onto the hoard of tiny pillows. “This is nice, Per,” they complimented purposefully. Perry didn’t need much, but a pointed compliment went a long way.

“Hm,” Perry nodded again, and reached behind her to grab Lafontaine’s rice. “Eat your dinner so you can brush your teeth and get to sleep. You have chem lab tomorrow.”

Lafontaine grunted their acknowledgement of the statement around a probably too large mouthful of rice. They sat on the floor and watched Rosalind snore for a minute, and then LaFontaine felt their exhaustion seep up into a kind of ridiculous laugh, tipping over to bump into Perry’s shoulder. “Hell of a night.”

“Yes, it was a _heck_ of a night.” Perry reached over and touched the singed tips of Lafontaine’s hair - they’d ducked just a bit too slowly, but it was just hair, and they’d been thinking about hawking it next anyways. There was a flicker of fear there, just for a second, a momentary lapse in optimism that wrinkled Perry’s forehead, and Lafontaine grabbed her hand to squeeze firmly. Perry immediately adjusted to lace their fingers together and there was that thing again, between them, that big giant thing that they just weren’t talking about, hadn’t been talking about since they were in high school. Perry had managed to press it down into all these little things, tiny moments of almost-somethings and maybe almost-nothings. It was the rule. Everything was normal. No one was in love with their best friend. No one was talking about it.

LaFontaine was used to it, and could be patient when it was worth it. When it came to policies, sometimes Perry just needed time to decide to bend them herself. “What are we going to do when we both have class?” LaFontaine murmured, dropping their shoulder down so they propped each other up, warm and solid and sleepy.

Perry nodded at the pile of stuff. “The employee at the pet store said that puppies as young as nine weeks can be left crated for up to ninety minutes. She’ll be fine.”

Half asleep, LaFontaine agreed absently and it was a few seconds past too late before she registered that Perry had decided Rosalind was a puppy. They sighed and closed their eyes tightly. This was gonna go  _great_.

* * *

 

 

 


End file.
